HRL Business Transformation event attracts CXOs from leading corporations

The IBM Haifa Research Lab recently held a Business Transformation Leadership Seminar, in conjunction with IBM Global Business Services (GBS) Israel. This is the second year the event has taken place, focusing on IBM clients and the fusion of business and technology. This year's event hosted IBM senior executives who presented topics on a diverse range of topics from strategy modeling and innovation in practice to research on component business modeling in the enterprise.

The event garnered the attention of CEOs and CTOs from a number of leading Israeli corporations. Over 100 senior executives attended, including senior representatives from Bank Leumi, Bank Hapoalim, Menorah Insurance, The Israel Electric Company, Hamashbir, and Bank Discount. The presentations sparked a number of exciting discussions and possibilities for future joint ventures among the participants.

"Today businesses need to keep innovating so they don't get left behind," noted Amit Fisher, Manager of the Business Transformation Group. "In fact, change needs to be built into their business model so the organization can remain flexible and resilient, while reinventing itself as the market evolves." Companies need to transform their businesses quickly and continuously in order to seize new opportunities and keep ahead of the marketplace.

"This event provides us with a unique opportunity to have down to earth discussions with major IBM clients," explained Aviad Sela, researcher at the IBM Haifa Lab and one or the conference organizers. "The synergy created by bringing together leading Israeli enterprises and technology experts was very exciting."

Seminar participants gave rave reviews to the high ranking speakers who presented as part of the program. Some of the highlights included opening remarks by Meir Nissensohn, IBM Israel General Manager; Business Models Innovation by Edward Giesen, Business Strategy Lead for GBS EMEA; Rethinking Business Models by Shanker Ramamurthy, GBS Global Managing Partner for Banking and Financial Markets; and Componentizing Your Enterprise from Theory to Practice by Guy Rackham, IBM DE and GBS CBM Subject Matter Expert. The program continued with an open discussion on the future directions of business transformation within the enterprise.

Fisher sees this hugely successful seminar as just the beginning. "The big challenge lies in bridging between the new technologies and using them to enable new more innovative, flexible, and resilient business models," continued Fisher. "By collaborating with global teams and IBM clients outside Israel, we can open the doors to new opportunities and new directions."